It's Okay to Cry
by grayluki
Summary: Natsu mourns the death of his two closest friends, and Lisanna comes to his side to comfort him.


**AN:** This is my first time writing fanfic for a couple other than Graylu! Nali is super cute and I ship it, but I don't write for them a lot. This was requested on my tumblr account, .com. It was for the prompt, "You know, it's okay to cry." I tried to write something angst-y, hopefully I did that correctly.

xx

It was finally over. The war had finally come to an end, and the members of Fairy Tail were exhausted.

As news of their victory spread, mages from all the guilds who helped in the war gathered at what was left of the guild hall. Some drank in hopes of forgetting the moments when they had lost a comrade, others rested and mourned the deaths of their friends.

Lisanna picked up yet another tray of beer and walked in between the rows of her guildmates, passing them out one by one. As she finished passing them out, Lisanna turned her head towards the broken-down entrance to the guild. There was still no sign of Natsu.

The white haired mage sighed and set the tray down on the table. Three hours had already passed by, and Natsu still hadn't returned to the guild.

Natsu went through a lot today, he'll come back when he's ready, Lisanna thought. Still, tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Natsu was one of her closest friends, and she couldn't stand the thought of him grieving out there alone.

"Mira, I have to go," Lisanna said. Mirajane turned around and nodded, a sad smile on her face. She knew why Lisanna was leaving. "Please, bring him back," she said quietly.

Without a word, Lisanna shed the apron she was wearing and walked through the main entrance. She already knew where Natsu was.

Lisanna let her feet take her to Natsu. Her head hung low as she let the rest of her tears spill. Even though the skies were clearing and were now a brilliant, bright blue, Lisanna's mood darkened as she passed the many spots she had battled at.

Finally, a shape could be seen in the distance. A small gasp escaped Lisanna's mouth, and she picked up her pace. The takeover mage quickly ran over to where her childhood friend sat.

Lisanna skidded to a stop when she reached the pink-haired boy. She reached out for his shoulder, but her gaze shifted to the two bodies laying in front of him. The bodies of Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia laid side by side in front of Natsu. Both were beaten up and bruised and their hands were entwined.

She chose to not say anything. Instead, Lisanna sat down next to her friend, who was staring at his friends. The two sat in silence as the breeze blew through their hair.

"I thought they'd like it," Natsu finally said.

Lisanna raised her head and looked at him. Before she could ask him what he meant, Natsu continued. "I put their hands like that so they'd always be together. It's what they would have wanted" he said plainly.

Fresh tears spilled down her already wet cheeks and Lisanna pulled Natsu into a hug.

He didn't hug her back. Natsu's eyes remained on the bodies of his friends. "I killed them Lisanna. They fought me to save me, but in the end they died," he said bitterly.

"Everyone always said that I destroyed everything I came across. Every time the Magic Council complained to the old man about me destroying things, the guild would tease me about it. But they were right, I did destroy something. But no work or money will make up for it this time," Natsu said biterly.

Lisanna wept into his shoulder and she hugged him tightly. "You didn't mean to Natsu," she whispered. "You couldn't control yourself."

Again, Natsu ignored her. He felt so strange. He had just killed his two best friends, but he couldn't cry. Why? There was nothing wrong with grieving, yet Natsu couldn't bring himself to cry.

Crying won't bring them back. It's already happened, and it's all your fault,Natsu thought.

Lisanna stared at the man before her. It was then that she realized how much this war had changed him. Natsu was no longer the carefree, reckless and immature boy she had fallen in love with. It was unlike him to be this emotionless, and she couldn't think of any reason why he wasn't showing his emotions as he had done in the past.

"Natsu…" she began, but Natsu interrupted her by pushing her away. "Stop crying. It's not going to change anything," he said sternly.

Her eyes widened as she finally understood what was happening. Lisanna reached out and embraced the dragon slayer. "You know, it's okay to cry," she said softly as she stroked his hair.

"It might not change anything, but I know Gray and Lucy wouldn't want you to keep everything bottled up. They loved you so much Natsu, they wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this," she continued.

Finally, Natsu broke. Tears streamed down his face and he turned to pull Lisanna into his arms. Natsu was no longer pushing his emotions away. Instead, he cried and held Lisanna.

The youngest Strauss sibling said nothing. She held onto him just as tightly as before, letting him cry.

An hour had passed, and Natsu was ready to go. Both stood up slowly, still holding the other's hand. Natsu wiped his face and took one last look at his friends.

"We'll have a proper ceremony for them at the guild," Lisanna assured him. Natsu gripped her hand tightly and turned away from his two friends. "Thank you," he whispered.

Lisanna smiled at him and laid her head against his shoulder. "You're welcome."


End file.
